Less than a year after its formation, the ERSU working group from Jena and Potsdam held its first annual retreat from March 12–14, 2025 at Springbachmühle in Bad Belzig. The event was moderated by ERSU co-leads Ricarda Winkelmann and Johan Rockström. The group shared updates on the wealth of models and analysis tools being developed within the team—such as PISM, pycascades, TOAD, inSEEDS, pyunicorn and FRIDA—bringing everyone up to speed with the fast pace of ongoing developments.
In addition, members brainstormed concepts around the importance of time scales in tipping points, committed impacts, tipping model analysis pipelines, and agent-based modelling. A series of hands-on, team-led workshops on working efficiency, coding, visual design, high-performance computing, and AI tools provided opportunities to exchange best practices and sharpen skills across disciplines. Additional in-between- and after-work activities—including swing dance and yoga classes, a pub quiz, and a toad excursion in the surrounding forest— were organized by various team members and offered valuable opportunities for bonding and personal exchange.
All in all, it was a successful retreat that fostered collaboration, sparked new ideas, and strengthened the group’s shared vision moving forward.
